The Ways of God – Evangelism (Part 2)
In part one of this short series on God’s way for evangelism, we discussed the core message of the gospel Jesus came preaching and the roles and responsibilities of those called to share the good news of God’s kingdom. By-the-way, that call is not just for the paid professionals, but everyone who has the hope of Heaven.
But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear… 1Peter 3:15
The “go and make disciples” – which includes sharing the gospel to unbelievers – is for everyone who claims Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Admittedly, the good news has become less popular in recent decades. Most of us have spent most of our lives in a post-Christian society, and we will likely see more hostility toward the Gospel in this decade than we might imagine.
But now is not the time for timidity and defensiveness (2 Timothy 1:7). The continuing storms of this decade will provide great opportunity for making disciples. Houses will fall (Matthew 7:24-27) and many lost and wandering people will be desperate for refuge, encouragement, and the truth. Hopefully, they will turn away from the world, and toward those houses that are standing on solid foundations. Hopefully, they will be knocking on your door.
The Prayer and Its Prescription
It should encourage every Christian to know that God has prescribed a way for evangelism that does not require human charisma to draw and entertain crowds, nor courage to preach from a street corner. We find this very interesting way for evangelism in Jesus’ prayer “for those who will believe in Me through their word.” Let’s take a look.
I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me. John 17:20-23
Notice, if you will, that Jesus mentions the world twice in this passage. First, we see that He desires for the world to believe He has been sent from the Father. And second: that they would know the Father loves them as much as He loves Jesus. This shouldn’t surprise us; it is the heart’s desire of our good King Jesus.
What may surprise – what surprised me when I first discovered this passage – is just how Jesus expects the Father to give Him the desire of His heart: by making us one, as He and the Father are one. Think about that for a moment. What thoughts and questions come to mind?
This matter of unity may be the hardest mystery in all of Scripture to wrap our heads around. My guess is we never will on this side of heaven. The mystery of unity is not for our heads, but for our hearts. This passage contains a word of God that will become faith and lodge itself in our hearts, if we will receive it and continue pursuing it through to the end of the process of faith.
As we learned in a previous series, the process of faith includes the hearing of faith, obedience to the faith, and the work of faith. For our purposes here, we will focus on the work of faith for evangelism – or said another way, living in unity with one another and the Godhead, so that the world would know and believe the Gospel.
What If?
What if God had been drawing you to Jesus Christ through the witness of a friend?
What if you heard the Gospel from that friend or during a crusade she invited you to attend?
What if the Holy Spirit convicted you of your sin, and the righteousness of God?
And what if you showed up at this church to see what it was all about:
And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men? 1Corinthians 3:1-3
How many times would you guess envy, strife, and divisions – in the church – have turned a person from the saving grace of God?
Now, what if the church you visited looked like this:
…that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:14-16
Could the contrast of these two churches be more obvious? Another great mystery for me is how we could have come so far in the wrong direction. How could we neglect so great a salvation as the one Jesus expressly gave gifts to the church to create (vv. 11-13)?
When did we forget that the church united is the desire of our king’s heart? Do we not know that our unity leads to the spiritual maturity of His perfectly beautiful wife?
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.” And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Revelation 19:7-8
You know something: The wife of Jesus will not be dismembered, with parts separated by carpet color, mission giving, or even doctrinal division. The question we have to ask ourselves is what hill are we willing to die on when our Lord is waiting for His wife. When does protecting the doctrines of man become counter-productive to the purposes of God and the good news of His kingdom?
I Better Stop Now
I fear I may have gone too far down the “what’s wrong” path. Forgive me. It is hard to share the incredible promises and possibilities offered by our good king without touching on the contrast in which we find ourselves. So do me a favor and reread Ephesians 4:14-16. I believe it will stir the desire of your heart for unity with all the brethren in your community.
Now, here is a summary of the main points we are trying to make – here and in our previous article – regarding God’s way for evangelism.
- There are various methods and mechanisms for evangelism (e.g., crusades, door-to-door, small groups).
- The key prescription God provides is the message: The good news Jesus came preaching is the gospel of the kingdom – something more about Him than us.
- Understanding our prescribed roles and responsibilities, and those of the Godhead, make for a more productive evangelism.
- The work of faith for evangelism is our supernatural unity in the Body of Christ.
- Our disunity inhibits God’s way for evangelism and, consequently, the advancement of God’s kingdom.
- Our unity of faith in Jesus Christ is our greatest hope for the restoration of the church.
- Christ’s vision and hope for the church must become our own – to the point of death to self and human opinion.
Concluding Encouragement
In conclusion, we offer a couple of additional passages for your encouragement and edification. Ask the Father to use them to stir your heart for unity in the Body of Christ.
Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1Corinthians 1:10-13
By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35
Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Philippians 2:1-2
God bless you with courage and grace to pursuit evangelism with the message and love He has prescribed.
Humbly yours and forever His,
Rob
#iamjustthepen